St. Joseph’s College of Commerce (Autonomous)
End Semester Examination- april 2013

B.Com – Ii Semester

ADDITIONAL  ENGLISH
Duration: 3 hours                                                                                   Max.Marks:100

Section- A

I Answer FIVE questions from the following. Each carries 2 marks.                      (5X2=10)

1. What does Sudha Murthy mean when she says that forests are difficult to negotiate during the rains?
2. Why did Muni try to humour the shopkeeper? Was he successful in his attempts?
3. “For every scoundrel there is a hero,” – what do you think this means?
4. “He moves in darkness as it seems to me” what kind of darkness is this? What makes the poet think his neighbor walks in this darkness?
5. What happens if a wall is built around a brain?
6. Why does the poet envy the sea in the poem “Ring to me is Bondage”?

Section – B
II Answer any FOUR questions.                                                                             (4X5=20)

7. Critically analyze the value of Intellectual Independence and value of Honouring contracts?
8. What were the things that Sudha Murthy found impressive about the school and its students?
9. The speaker constantly harping on one point-warning the other girl not to do certain things and behave in a certain way what does this tells you about the speaker?
10. How the proverb Blessing in Disguise does comes true in Muni’s life?
11. How does Lincoln link the boy’s faith in him to the development of his character?
12. Do you believe “good fences make good neigbours”? Why? Give reasons to support your answer.

Section- C
III.      Answer any THREE questions.  Each carries 10 marks.                         (3X10=30)

 

13. Can a person enjoy freedom even when there is a wall built around him? How is this possible? Discuss with reference to the poem “Wall is just a Wall”.
14. Do you agree that a ring is bondage? Give reasons to support your answer.
15. “Only the test of fire makes fine steel”. What are the various ‘tests of fire’ the boy will have to go through? What lesson will he have to learn to be a successful person?
16. … the time will come when no servant will be hired without a diploma from some training school, and a girl will as much expect to fit herself for house-maid or cook, as for dressmaker or any trade.

Comment on the above statement with reference to the instructions given to a girl as she grows.

Section- D

 

 

17. What does this picture suggest to you? Write a brief personal response in about 150 words.                                                                                                     (10marks)

 

18. Read the following passage and answer the questions given below (5×2=10)

In his thought-provoking work, Philosophical Investigations, Ludwig Wittgenstein uses an easily conceptualized scenario in an attempt to clarify some of the problems involved in thinking about the mind as something over and above the behaviors that it produces. Imagine, he says, that everyone has a small box in which they keep a beetle. No one is allowed to look in anyone else’s box, only in their own. Over time, people talk about what is in their boxes and the word “beetle” comes to stand for what is in everyone’s box.

Through this curious example, Wittgenstein attempts to point out that the beetle is very much like an individual’s mind; no one can know exactly what it is like to be another person or experience things from another’s perspective—look in someone else’s “box”—but it is generally assumed that the mental workings of other people’s minds are very similar to that of our own (everyone has a “beetle” which is more or less similar to everyone else’s). However, it does not really matter—he argues—what is in the box or whether everyone indeed has a beetle, since there is no way of checking or comparing. In a sense, the word “beetle”—if it is to have any sense or meaning—simply means “what is in the box”. From this point of view, the mind is simply “what is in the box”, or rather “what is in your head”.

Wittgenstein argues that although we cannot know what it is like to be someone else, to say that there must be a special mental entity called a mind that makes our experiences private, is wrong. His rationale is that he considers language to have meaning because of public usage. In other words, when we talk of having a mind—or a beetle—we are using a term that we have learned through conversation and public discourse (rooted in natural language). The word might be perceived differently in each of our minds, but we all agree that it signifies something; this allows us to develop language for talking about conceptualizations like color, mood, size and shape. Therefore, the word “mind” cannot be used to refer specifically to some entity outside of our individualized conception, since we cannot see into other people’s boxes.

 

Questions                                                                                           

• Based on information in the passage, Wittgenstein apparently believes that

 

1. it is best to think of mental states as nothing over and above the behaviors they produce
2. the public use of language is responsible for misconceptions about the mind

III. through the use of precise language, it is possible to accurately describe the shared properties of the mind

 

1. I only
2. II only
3. I and II only
4. II and III only
5. I, II, and III

 

2) Which of the following literary devices best describes Wittgenstein’s use of the “beetle in a box” scenario?

1. Authorial intrusion, characterized by a point at which the author speaks out directly to the reader.
2. Aphorism, characterized by the use of a concise statement that is made in a matter of fact tone to state a principle or an opinion that is generally understood to be a universal truth.
3. Amplification, characterized by the embellishment or extension of a statement in order to give it greater worth or meaning.
4. Allegory, characterized by the use of symbolic representation to convey the meaning of an often abstract concept.
5. Ambiguity, characterized by the expression of an idea in such a way that it becomes possible to glean more than one meaning from it.

 

3) Wittgenstein would most likely disagree with which of the following statements?

1. It is impossible to know another person’s thoughts.
2. The mind is a special mental substance.
3. The color green may actually look different to everybody.
4. Words do not always accurately represent the things they symbolize.
5. It takes time for public discourse to create a new word with a common meaning.

 

4) As used in paragraph 3, which is the best synonym for discourse?

1. exchange
2. conversation
3. announcement
4. knowledge
5. setting

 

 

 

 

5) Based on his use of the “beetle in a box” comparison in the passage, it can be inferred that Wittgenstein might similarly compare a room full of people to a

1. deck of cards
2. box of chocolates
3. collection of rocks
4. library of books
5. group of drinking glasses filled with water

 

19. Write an essay of 250 words             (12 marks)

Should a city try to preserve its old, historic buildings or destroy them and replace them with modern buildings? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

20. Fill in the Blanks with suitable verb forms (4×1=4)
21. The Earth ___ round the Sun. (Move)
    b. This paper ___ thrice weekly. (Appear)
    c.   He usually ___ at the back of the class. (Sit)
    d.   He ___ here for the last five years. (Work)

 

21. 21. Use the following pairs of words correctly in sentences of your own (4 marks)

 

1. Devise – Device
2. Inquire – Enquire

 

 

 

 

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